Corn in Pet Foods: Dispelling Myths About Nutritious Food

Corn often gets a bad rap when found in pet foods. For some reason (marketing tactics), people believe that corn is a filler, causes allergies and is not digestible. These three common misconceptions are myths. They are simply not true. In this article, I will show you why corn is not as evil as all the hype makes it out to be.

Myth number 1: Corn is a filler.

A filler is an ingredient that has no nutritional value. Corn does not fit into this category! Corn is a superior source of necessary and beneficial nutrients, such as linoleic acid, essential amino acids, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. Corn provides energy, helps facilitate tissue growth, is good for healthy skin and coat, and we all understand the benefits of fiber. No other grain provides this much nutrition. Plainly, corn is anything but a filler.

Myth number 2: Corn causes allergies.

Actually, the ingredients that cause the most allergies in pet foods are Beef, Dairy, and Wheat. In fact, Beef, Dairy, and Wheat make up 68% of all reported cases concerning food allergy. 25% of reported food allergy cases are caused by Lamb, Chicken, Chicken Egg, and Soy. Corn does not even make it into the 93% of all reported cases concerning food allergy.

Myth number 3: Corn is poorly digested.

It is true that corn can be poorly digested. However, the fact is that EVERY grain is poorly digested before it is cooked, but once cooked and ground up it becomes highly digestible. Some pet food companies even take diligent care to extract the pearl of the corn from the kernel.

I hope I have helped to dispel some common misconceptions about corn and provide some ease and relief to pet owners by presenting this information. The most important thing to look at when buying pet food is the nutrient levels, and whether or not the ingredients come from a trusted source. It is difficult to avoid being manipulated by lies perpetuated by various companies, but we need to be able to assess information by asking ourselves questions and doing our own research. Companies use myths like those associated with corn to scare customers into buying their products, but do you really trust a company and their product when they use tactics such as these? Make informed decisions, don't believe everything you hear.

All of this information was gathered from an unbiased scientific veterinary book entitled: Small Animal Clinical Nutrition (4th ed.), by Hand, Thatcher, Remillard, and Roudebush.